


Two and Two

by GooseAndGold



Category: Naruto
Genre: Asexual Character, Bisexual Character, Blank Period, Diverges from Boruto, F/F, Lesbian Character, Ninja Economics, Ninja Politics, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 07:21:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13565640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GooseAndGold/pseuds/GooseAndGold
Summary: Konohagakure and Sunagakure stand to strengthen their alliances and their villages with an arrangement to share medical ninjustu technique and research. There are unexpected benefits, but not for everyone.





	Two and Two

Tenten waits at the threshold of the Great Gates at the entrance of Konohagakure, impatiently. Of all the ninja who could have been assigned to this mission, none of the ones on this temporary team seem like the type to be late. Lee, in his endless enthusiasm, arrived two hours before she did, to stretch and to prepare mentally. Gai-sensei was also waiting at the gate when she arrived, balanced in a handstand with his wheelchair discarded at the edge of the street.

 

Ino, too, arrived on time—fifteen minutes before they were due to set out, with her bags well-stuffed and a determined smile pulling at her lips. Chouji and Shikamaru had wandered up twelve minutes after that to give their goodbyes; it wasn't going to be a dangerous mission, but it could be a long one, and Tenten sympathized with the old gennin teams who still struggled with being split up.

 

What's weird is that their team leader for this mission is uncharacteristically late. Tenten chats idly with Ino and her team, while Lee and Gai-sensei shout encouragements at each other for what feels like an hour. It's when Tenten is ready to suggest that they go to the Hokage's tower and search for Sakura that she appears. She, Kakashi-sama, and Naruto turn the corner onto the main street, and Naruto raises his hand and jogs ahead when he catches sight of them.

 

“Hey! You guys excited to be heading out?” he shouts when he's still too far away to really start a conversation.

 

“Absolutely!” Lee shouts back across the distance. “I am honoured that the Lord Hokage and Lord Kazekage will be trusting our team with this important responsibility! We will nurture our two villages' futures with all our might!”

 

“ _Osu!_ ” Gai-sensei shouts in reply.

 

“It doesn't seem like Sakura's all that excited,” Ino quips as Kakashi and Sakura reach the crowd as well. Sakura snorts at the jab, but the humour in Ino's tone is clear enough.

 

“Were there problems with preparations?” Tenten asks their Hokage.

 

Kakashi waves a hand in the air idly, brushing off her concerns. “Not at all. We just lost track of time.”

 

She's not inclined to believe that, but she also trusts everyone present. If it was something important to the mission, she's sure she'll hear about it eventually.

 

“Well, I guess everybody's here,” Shikamaru drawls as he looks across the small crowd that's assembled. “Take care, yeah?” He says, giving Ino's shoulder a little squeeze. “Don't piss off Sunagakure. And say 'hi' to Temari for me. Or don't. If you remind her I exist, she might come looking for a rematch.”

 

Ino snorts. “Sure thing.” She pulls Chouji into a deep hug, and when they break apart, he slaps her shoulder too.

 

“What he said,” he laughs. “It sounds like a fun mission. You'll have to send us a letter when you get there. Tell us what kind of feast the Kazekage puts on for guests.”

 

“Yeah, yeah.”

 

Tenten looks away from Team 8 to find Lee standing closer to her, his arms spread out wide, jaw clenched and face solemn. She resists the urge to roll her eyes, and hides a smile behind her hand. “Lee. We don't have to hug goodbye. You're coming too.”

 

He sniffles a little as he drops his arms. “I know that. I simply believe that it is important to leave on a mission with the village's blessings.”

 

“Hug Kakashi-sensei, then,” Naruto tells him with a grin. “If any of us counts as all of Konoha, it's him.”

 

Lee takes a step forward before the Lord Hokage barks “Don't. Even. Try,” with uncharacteristic seriousness.

 

“Well, I'm already getting us off to a late start,” Sakura interjects. “Are we ready to head out?”

 

The team members nod in unison. “You're the leader,” Tenten tells her. “We leave when you're ready.”

 

Sakura nods and surveys the group slowly. There's a strong summer wind rustling the trees all around them, causing dappled shadows to dance along the path and whipping at their clothes and hair. The energy in the air is restless. Excited. Anticipatory.

 

“Alright,” she says, reaching up to adjust the hitae-ate that circles her head. “The mission is to establish a Medi-nin corps for our ally, Sunagakure. Let's move out!”

 

* * *

 

The run to Sunagakure is a two-day journey for ninja running at a strong pace. Each member of the team dispatched for their mission is capable a jounin and veteran of the war, and their pace definitely qualifies as 'strong.'

 

Still, the long trip means that Tenten's enthusiasm rises and falls like a tide. Sometimes they run in near silence, focused and intent on moving through the landscape in a blur. But when she makes conversation—mostly with Ino and Sakura—about the steps they'll take to establish a school of medical jutsu, the new era they're on the edge of feels practically tangible.

 

“Some of the Yamanaka clan poisons are trade secrets, obviously,” Ino tells their group in the middle of one such discussion, “but I'd be interested to learn what they do with cactus needles and insect venom. It's possible we could come up with some new blend.”

 

“I think I'd also like to pick Kankurō-san's brain at some point,” Sakura adds. “Chiyo-san was a brilliant medi-nin and a master puppeteer. Those chakra threads could be an avenue for a Suna-style medical technique.”

 

Lee has only ever been able to perform basic first aid in the field, and Tenten is hardly any better, so she's happy to mostly eavesdrop on the conversation and learn what she can.

 

“We'll see how many students they've pulled together for the first batch, but I think Gaara-sama had guessed about six new students and two more experienced shinobi,” Sakura says over her shoulder, addressing the group in general. “With his permission, I think it would be best not to jump into teaching right away. I'd like to learn what the older shinobi know, what they need to learn, and what their ideas are. They probably have a rough draft of a lesson plan as well.”

 

“We need to find out what Suna teaches their academy students, too,” Tenten suggests. “Local materials might mean the first aid and poison training the new students have is different from what we're expecting. Their baseline is very likely different from Konoha's.”

 

This is part of why she was chosen for this group. She's always had an interest in teaching, and since the end of the war, her focus has turned more and more to the problem of how they should be educating the next generation of shinobi. She's put a lot of thought into what they learn, and why. She wants to know how Suna is tackling the problem. Maybe the two villages can help each other move forward.

 

“Not only that,” Ino adds, “but we need to consider that what they teach in their Academy could be improved too.”

 

Tenten smiles at her teammate, though she's running behind the younger woman so Ino can't see her expression. In another situation she might want to take credit for that line of thought, but in a diplomatic mission like this it's just best if everyone is on the same page.

 

She glances over at Lee, who has been surprisingly quiet since shortly after they set out from the village. The young man has a big grin plastered on his face, and his eyebrows furrowed in determination. Tenten tries to resist chuckling, but she isn't completely successful; she'd forgotten, but Lee might be the one who's most excited to make it to Suna.

 

The other women glance over their shoulders when Tenten remains quiet, and when they catch sight of Lee's barely-restrained excitement, their faces set into determined smiles as well.

 

Their day goes smoothly. They come nearly to the edge of Fire Country before Sakura makes the decision to stop them for the night. Even in this time of peace, the borders between the elemental nations are well-patrolled, and there is a standard distance away from the edge of their territory where they can camp without interfering with that patrol.

 

“We'll want to be fresh-faced and entering Wind Country by the light of day,” Sakura says as she finishes arranging a small wood pile for a cooking fire. “Even if Suna knows we're coming, we should start the mission properly.”

 

The four jounin present are all more than capable of running straight through the night and arriving at Sunagakure just before noon, but it's also true that they would be exhausted and useless when they arrived. Allies of Konoha or not, this is a diplomatic mission with Suna first and foremost.

 

Even within their own borders, camping is a complicated ritual for shinobi. The first step is creating seals and alarms to warn of strangers approaching; Sakura is a highly skilled at the former, and Tenten is a master at the latter. If they were on a less benevolent mission, or if they thought they were being tracked, they might set decoy camps in the area as well, or create false tracks to follow. As it stands, they are content to simply have Ino set up a basic genjutsu as a second layer of protection. The final order of business—after eating and activating a summoning scroll filled with sleeping sleeping pads—is to determine the shifts for keeping watch.

 

Tenten is not the least bit surprised when Lee offers to take a watch shift twice as long as normal, as training for his focus and mental fortitude. It was something he insisted upon on every single overnight mission in the tenure of Team Gai. She watches with mostly-patient amusement, poking a stick into the cherry-red embers of their campfire, as Sakura and Ino politely argue that they ought to all have the same length of shift—the standard one and a half hours, to allow everyone to rest at least four and a half hours before they set out.

 

“I am too excited to sleep tonight anyways, Sakura-chan. The thought of spending these months in Suna has stoked the fire of my spirit!”

 

“Lee,” Ino interjects before Sakura can stutter out a response, “we're entering Sunagakure as a delegation representing Konoha. I know you're hyped up, but we can't arrive at the Kazekage's doorstep dragging a sleep-deprived teammate. You have to sleep.”

 

“Do not worry, Ino-chan! You will not need to drag me! I am perfectly capable of getting all the sleep I need in three hours! Gai-sensei ensured it when we undertook a miraculous and life-altering training trip into the mountains, when we both—”

 

“Lee.” Tenten interrupts in that firm-but-gentle tone she's heard some academy instructors use. “I think it would make the girls more comfortable if we shared our duties evenly. They're not used to being on a team with us so maybe it's best to go by the book for now.”

 

Lee turns to regard her thoughtfully for a moment, and Tenten catches Ino mouthing 'thank you' out of the corner of her eye. She successfully fights the urge to crack a grin.

 

“I understand. I am sure this mission will provide countless opportunities to challenge my mental faculties! I am happy to do whatever will make my teammates more comfortable.”

 

It's almost worth sighing in relief.

 

“Thanks Lee,” Sakura tells him. “Then we'll all take an hour and a half. Do you have a shift you prefer?”

 

“I will rise bright and early, and wake you all to greet the morning!” he shouts, a fist pumped high.

 

“Great,” Tenten is already pulling at her tightly-wound buns, letting the hair unravel and spiral down her back. “I can take the one before that, if you guys don't mind. Right now I just want to pass out.”

 

Ino nods. “That's fine with me. Our fearless leader can probably take the first shift, since she got a late start this morning—she can't be tired yet.”

 

Sakura frowns and flicks a finger at Ino's shoulder. “Excuse _me_. Our lord Hokage wanted to talk to me before we left. I hope that's okay, _mom_.”

 

“It's fine. Just leave me alone so I can get my beauty sleep. _Don't,_ ” Ino warns with a finger to Sakura's lips, cutting her off before she can make an easy joke.

 

Tenten chuckles as she wiggles into her bed roll, trying to find a comfortable spot on the thin mat she laid out. The forest is thinning out this close to the border, but the stand of trees that surrounds them has a shallow root system and she expects it will be digging into her back all night. Any ninja is accustomed to worse, but it will be nice to have a real mattress tomorrow night.

 

Despite that thought, Tenten struggles to sleep. She tosses and turns, kicking her legs around in her bedroll, feeling to hot and then too cold. It really, truly isn't the lumpy ground—she isn't some princess. She could sleep on a bed of nails if she had to.

 

It's the excitement. She hasn't been on a properly meaningful mission in years. Opening the weapons shop was exciting. Hiring staff to care for it was exciting and sometimes nerve-wracking. Being called into the Academy more and more often to lecture the students about basic swordsmanship or shuriken jutsu has been exciting. But something about having a mission that really, really matters—all that weight on her shoulders...it makes her want to lean in and keep pushing.

 

After she dazedly wakes up the third or forth time, Tenten rolls over and cracks an eye at the gently steaming embers of the fire pit. Unless someone stoked it again—which she doubts, since there's no need at this time of year—she can't have been sleeping more than half an hour.

 

“...mean 'respect' and 'passionate love,'” Ino is whispering. Tenten sees Sakura's silhouette, seated on a log and gazing down at Ino where she's tucked into her own bed roll.

 

“Hinata is a lot of things, but she's not what I usually think of as passionate,” Sakura tells the other woman.

 

“I know, I know. That's what my mom said. I would have gone with white roses or pansies or something more gentle for the ceremony, but Hinata's always liked sunflowers apparently. That's what Hanabi said.”

 

“Because they look like Naruto's dorky head?”

 

Ino snorts, and Sakura kicks at her friend's bed roll to hush her.

 

“His own teammate, slandering him like that,” the blonde giggles.

 

“It's _because_ I was his teammate.”

 

“Your name doesn't suit you at all, girl. You know cherry blossoms mean 'kind' and 'gentle,' right.”

 

“You know some people just like certain flowers for their looks, right?”

 

There's a shifting of fabric, and Tenten assumes Ino is shrugging. “Those people are missing out.”

 

Their conversation goes on—sometimes loud enough for Tenten to hear, and sometimes not. The soft sounds keep her mind from racing, and eventually she looses the thread of it as she falls asleep.

 

* * *

 

“My comrades! It is time to wake to a glorious sunrise! Today marks the start of a glorious era for our villages!”

 

As promised, Tenten wakes to Lee's enthusiastic voice. She groans and throws her small pillow toward his head as she peels herself out of her sleeping bag. The morning air is crisp, and the bag is so lovely and warm, but she's always found that putting off what she needs to do just makes it more painful later.

 

The other women seem to be from a different school of philosophy. Ino has buried her head in her sleeping bag, and Sakura has her pillow wrapped around her ears, one eye cracked open and glaring at the source of the disturbance.

 

Tenten can assume Lee is the only one who slept well, which really is unfair because he truly _can_ function normally with just a few hours of quality rest.

 

But Tenten is determined to enter Suna with pride, so she stretches and shakes out the grogginess in her limbs before she starts packing their supplies back into the scrolls they were summoned from. By the time she's finished, everyone has woken up and gotten themselves in order.

 

Lee has pulled out several rows of onigiri, wrapped in leaves and laid out on a mostly-flat log. Better than food pills, but almost definitely worse than what they'll be served when they're guests of the Kazekage.

 

“Thanks, Lee,” Ino says politely as she tucks her legs under her and kneels in front of the log. Her hair is still braided in a tight plait and thrown across her shoulders, but Tenten notes that otherwise it would be more than skimming the dirt when she sits. “Did you make these for us? They're very well done.”

 

“Thank you, Ino-chan!” Lee says with a broad smile, “but no, the praise belongs to Gai-sensei! He was sure to pack each onigiri to the brim with fillings that will give us energy for the second half of our journey!”

 

Tenten eyes the onigiri suspiciously. She's eaten a lot of Gai-sensei's foods, and a lot of his favourites at different restaurants and back-alley dives throughout the elemental nations. She's going to eat carefully.

 

Ino and Sakura seem to notice her hesitation, and Ino pulls a piece of rice from the wedge-shaped onigiri she's holding and bites into it delicately.

 

Sakura pauses only a moment longer before she bravely takes a full bite and frowns, chewing thoughtfully. There's a weird anticipation in the air as they all watch her—Lee with excitement, Tenten with dread. “Mine is konbu seaweed,” she says eventually.

 

Tenten should be relieved, but she just feels let-down and a little suspicious. What are the odds they're all normal, versus the odds that Sakura got the only one with normal filling? This is the kind of situation food pills are made for, probably.

 

The young woman takes a bite of hers, noticing that Sakura and Ino both watch her out of the corners of their eyes, and she has to suppress a sigh when she bites into...peanut butter. Not a great mix, but also not the worst thing she's ever eaten on a mission—not by a long shot.  
  
Tenten sucks in a deep breath and eats the onigiri as fast as she can manage.

 

“Okay team,” Sakura says, standing and brushing off her hands. Tenten notices Ino slide her uneaten breakfast behind the knotted tree stump she's sitting on. “We don't have a whole lot of ground to cover, but we're going to set a steady pace today so we don't look like slobs when we arrive at Suna's wall. _We're not racing anyone or anything_ ,” she adds, apparently for good measure.

 

Other people might glance over to Lee to gauge his level of disappointment, but Tenten knows him well enough to know he will have just silently committed himself to setting the Steadiest Possible Pace.

 

“We're aiming to arrive mid-afternoon, and we'll be stopping for a break just before we hit the desert proper. We're about an hour and a half from the border with Wind Country right now. Any questions?”

 

There are none. The day's schedule is straightforward, and as the members of the team shoulder their packs and prepare to leave, there's a quiet buzz of anticipation that settles on them once again. In this time of peace, there aren't always opportunities for weighty missions like this. Though she's still not completely sure why she was chosen for this team, Tenten is excited to roll up her sleeves and show what Konoha can do.

 

A final glance around the camp serves as Sakura's last warning that they're heading out. In a diamond formation, they leap up into the trees and set a straight path west, toward the border.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I know where I'd like this story to go, but not how long it will take to get there.


End file.
